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Today we bring you part four of our series on the role
of North Dakota’s 164th Infantry Regiment at Guadalcanal in the fall
of 1942. Between October 25th and 29th, the 164th fought alongside the
1st Marine Division to protect a critical airstrip called Henderson Field.
After the fierce battle on the night of the 25th, the 3rd Battalion of
the 164th took up positions separate from the Marines. The 2nd Battalion
took a position on the flank, and the 1st Battalion prepared to meet thousands
of enemy troops streaming out of the mountains from the south.
Historian Glenn Smith writes, “At dusk, the Americans could hear
the Japanese coming again, and come they did. By this time many of the
stragglers of (Japan’s southern) force had reached the front with
added mortar and light artillery. As wave after wave attacked the American
positions, once again the Japanese depended heavily upon their superior
fighting spirit, their bushido. But the men of the 164th now had confidence
in themselves... Behind the lines of the 164th, service personnel and
others hastily threw up a perimeter close to Henderson Field in case the
Japanese broke through, about 175 cooks, messengers, clerks, and others
manning positions and waiting for the worst. Band members served the regiment
as litter bearers... Every member of the 164th had some role in the battle,
the biggest and fiercest of the entire campaign.
“Midst the roar of the battle,” Smith continues, “Sergeant
Kevin McCarthy of Jamestown... noticed several Marines at an outpost surrounded
by the enemy. Using a Bren gun carrier, a small...open-topped, tracked
vehicle, he drove to the beleaguered Marines and (carried) them to the
comparative safety of their own lines. The sergeant made three trips and
rescued all eighteen Marines, many of them seriously wounded,” Smith
says. “For this courageous deed, performed under heavy enemy fire,
he received the Distinguished Service Cross.”
By dawn, the 164th had lost 26 men, and 52 were wounded. In stark contrast,
an estimated 1700 Japanese troops laid dead in front of the regiment as
testimony to their deadly proficiency. Japan had suffered a disastrous
defeat.
Back in the States, American citizens had been waiting for almost a year
for a victorious retaliation for Pearl Harbor. Instead, Japan dealt the
Allies some stunning defeats, especially in the Philippines. In the early
days of the Guadalcanal campaign, a combat reporter named Richard Tregaskis
wrote Guadalcanal Diary. His account caused a sensation back in the States,
and within a year, it became the basis for The Thin Red Line, a movie
that was remade in 1998.
Marine commander, General Vandegrift knew the “boy scouts” of
the 164th played a major role in the Guadalcanal victory and sent the
following message to Colonel Moore and the men of the North Dakota regiment:
Subject: Congratulations
1. The officers and men of the First Marines salute you for a most wonderful
piece of work on the night of 25 and 26 October, 1942. Will you please
extend our sincere congratulations to all concerned. We are honored to
serve with a unit such as yours.
2. Little did we realize when we turned over our “quiet sector”
to you that you would bear the brunt of an attack so soon. I’m sure
you are very proud of the fighting ability demonstrated by your unit and
our hat is off to you.
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prior permission from North Dakota Public Radio.
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